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St
Margaret, Antingham

Antingham
is one of the lovely Trunch Team Ministry
parishes, whose churches are all open, every day.
They are welcoming and friendly, and everything
that a Norfolk church should be. I am writing
this on a day when I have been threatened by a
libel action from the parish of Gaywood for
describing my frustrating attempt to persuade the
Rector there to let me explore her church. It is
a relief to think myself back to north-east
Norfolk instead. You could never have any
difficulty feeling welcome as a pilgrim and
stranger in the Trunch area. The churches around
here all have a sense of belonging to everybody.

Antingham
St Mary is the village church. But right
beside it in the graveyard is the ruined shell of
its erstwhile companion, St Margaret. Both were
parish churches until the Reformation, the two
Antingham parishes arising from the presence of
two different manors.

Indeed,
they may have both continued as working churches after
the Reformation, because there are the remains of
brickwork in the ruins of the porch on the south side of
St Margaret. But by the start of the 18th century, when
both churches were in a parlous state, permission was
given to use the stone of St Margaret to repair St Mary.

A
considerable amount remains. The tower stands foursquare,
covered in elder. A long crack from top to bottom in the
west wall suggests that it has been struck by lightning.
Looking straight up the tower, you can see the brickwork
of the tower arch. You can also still see the internal
nave walls within the glade of elder and ivy, a slightly
furtive place, a great contrast with the clean, neat and
tidy church of St Mary on the other side of the
graveyard.